Tag Archives: gift giving

Calendar Girl

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Why bother when I’ll just break them, probably before the end of the month? However, there is one thing I love about a new year: calendars! Yes, I am a calendar girl. No, not the Neil Sedaka variety, just a girl who really, really loves calendars.

Image from depositphotos.com

Prior to retirement, I always had three calendars at my desk, even when I was in a cubicle. I had a wall calendar, a small Daytimer, and a page-a-day calendar. My wall calendar varied from year to year, sometimes it was video game themed, other times it was inspirational quotes or snarky toys. My page-a-day calendar was always a Christmas gift From Kenn; he knows me well so I don’t remember ever not liking his choice.

Now that I’m retired, I’m down to two calendars: a wall calendar in the bedroom which is where family birthdays and anniversaries are listed, and a second calendar that gets posted on the fridge monthly and lists appointments for both humans and felines. I’ve developed a definite fondness for the Note Nook calendars by Lang; these are the calendars I use for the fridge. Not only do I love the colorful scenes, the “pockets” give me a place to store the appointment cards in case of one of those “I didn’t know I had an appointment that day” discussions.

My mother-in-law and I may not have had a good relationship, but she did do one thing for me that I have continued with my own daughter-in-law and potential daughters-in-law to be. Our first Christmas as a married couple, my mother-in-law gave me a calendar with all of their family’s birthdays on it. I greatly appreciated it and did the same for my daughter-in-law her first Christmas with our family; she loved it so much she asked it I would continue the tradition every year. An excuse to buy another calendar every year? Sign me up! I gave my youngest son’s partner her first family calendar last year and asked if she would like for me to do so again this year. She said yes! I start calendar shopping in October and enjoy choosing calendars that I think match the girls personalities and interests. This year I gifted my daughter-in-law a Bluey calendar. For those of you without young children, Bluey is an Australian animated preschool series. However, the show seems to be as popular with adults as it is with kids; the Bluey calendar was sold out on Amazon and I got one of the last ones available from Calendars.com. (Whew!) Almost daughter-in-law is as much of a nerd and critter lover as the rest of us so she received a Movie Cats calendar. She was thrilled!

For a couple of years post-retirement, I invested in Happy Planners. However, I haven’t really used them so I didn’t get one this year. It turns out that, for me at least, a planner is just an excuse to buy a lot of stickers, LOL.

Any other calendar/planner lovers out there?🙋‍♀️

There’s an App for That

If you have embraced technology at all, you probably have oodles of apps on your smart phone. I do, though, admittedly, there are only a handful that I use on a regular basis. Did you know that there’s an app that can help answer the ever popular (and sometimes dreaded) question “What do you want for Christmas?” Giftster to the rescue!

Image from DepositPhotos.com

We were introduced to Giftster several years ago by our youngest son’s (now ex) girlfriend. I think we were all a little leery but decided to give it a try. Now, many years later, we’re still using it. (One of my daughter-in-law’s lists is even named “I concede. This was a good idea.”) Giftster allows you to create a group and then invite members; each member can then create multiple lists. This app has allowed us to stop the annual tradition of “harassing” everyone about what they’d like; it’s easy to just stop and add an item to your list whenever you think about it. When someone purchases a gift, they can mark the item so that others know it is taken. And, no worries, Giftster does not tell the list maker which gifts have been purchased so they can still be surprised on the Big Day whether it be Christmas or another gift giving occasion.

Of course, some are still resistant to the app. The only two members of our group who are inactive? Our sons.🙄For the most part, our oldest son is fairly easy to buy for, the youngest not so much; once the youngest out-grew dinosaurs and Transformers knowing what to get him has been… difficult. I have to give our daughter-in-law props – not only does she maintain her own list but she also created and maintains lists for their three kids.🏅Thanks to Giftster (and those who maintain their lists, LOL) I’m almost finished with my Christmas shopping. Stocking stuffers are the only thing left and that is my favorite type of shopping.

What are your favorite/most used apps?